Monday, January 28, 2013

No one can argue that the Naked palettes are purely beautiful. Ever since I got my first one a few Christmases ago, I've been completely smitten. I used it non-stop because it comes with the most wearable shades for everyday. Whatever eye look you are going for, whether it be subtle or smokey, the Naked palette will not let you down. Now I'm not saying that I've moved on from the Naked one, but when the Naked 2 came out, I had to have it (clearly). It's lovely in every way. Nuff said ;)

Ah just looking at it makes me smile. I'm weird, I know. The colors in this palette are foxy, half baked (also in the orginial Naked), bootycall (a personal fave), chopper, tease, snakebite, suspect, pistol, verve, YDK, busted, and blackout. My most used shadows from this palette so far have been bootycall as a highlight, tease for a great crease color, suspect, and YDK. If you want to smoke things up a bit, just add some busted in the outer corner, and if you're feeling like a badass (which we all do sometimes), really smoke things up with blackout. All in all, you can't go wrong! It retails for $50 and is worth every penny.

When the Naked Basics came out, I was like... Do I really need this? The answer is obviously no. But, me being, well, me.. kind of had to have it. It honestly probably would have taken me awhile to get this on my own, but it was a gift from my lovely aunt so thank god for her right? Anyway, this palette comes with six shadows, five of them being matte shades. The only one that isn't matte is venus, which is a great highlight color. This palette is about half the size of the other Naked palettes, and is really damn cute. It's so compact and really great for traveling. This palette is great if you're having one of those lazy days but you still want to add some definition to your eyes. The black is also quite lovely used as an eyeliner smudged up a bit.

venus, foxy, w.o.s, naked 2, faint, crave

I hope you guys enjoyed this post about my two favorite eyeshadow palettes of the moment. I garuntee you they are both delicious & you won't regret making them a part of your makeup collection!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

This will be my third and last post about my skincare for awhile (so really until I try something new which won't be long, let's be real). I adore serums. They have a warm and fuzzy place in my heart, I mean my skincare drawer ;). Whenever my skin is feeling/looking particularly like all hell has gone loose.. I turn to serums. These two are my favorite. I've had Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate for more than a year now, and if I'm being real withchu, it never fails. It's very light and made up of skin-loving oils like evening primrose oil which boosts radiance, and lavender essential oils. The goal of this serum is to repair skin overnight, and I believe it does just that. It helps with anything from irritated skin, breakouts, dry patches, or simply just dull skin. It leaves my skin hydrated and soft which is what I love! Just pop it under your night moisturizer and you're good to go :). This next serum is also for night time use. Esteé Lauder Advanced Night Repair is a lovely serum that to me smells like citrus. I just got this serum for Christmas, so I've been using it for only a short amount of time. Needless to say, I really like it. It feels really good on my skin, and does a great job of making my hormonal breakouts go away faster. Both of these serums are great buys and worth the money. The Kiehl's concentrate retails for $46 for a 1.0 fl. oz. bottle, and the Esteé Lauder serum retails for $55 for a 1.0 fl. oz. bottle. Thank you for reading about my skincare must haves. Please tell me all about yours!

If you got sick of reading my last post, don't worry this is going to be short and sweet, I promise! I never really thought about using eye creams much, but I heard somewhere that it's essential to start using eye creams in your 20's to prevent premature aging! These are the two eye creams I picked out because they're both from amazing skincare brands I adore, and I read great reviews about both of them. In the day time I use Plantscription Anti-aging Treatment. It's one of Origins top selling eye treatments and I love it. I use it during the day because it's really light, but hydrates my eye area and smooths any fine lines I have under my eyes. The scent is also very pleasant which is a bonus :). At night I want something thicker and heavier, so I opted for Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado which is a thick, yellowish-green cream that really moisturizes my eye area for the entire time I'm asleep. Anytime that my eye area is feeling especially dry, I will dab a bit of this on and it immediately feels so much better. If you're in need of a new eye cream, I reccommend both of these 100%!

This post is going to be all about skincare! Sadly, I have never been one of those girls we all secretly hate that can wash their faces with bar soap and wake up with perfect glowing skin. I've never had perfect skin so it's always been my mission to figure out what works best for my skin, and what can make a significant difference. A little about my skin: it's always been very dry, but I get oily in my t-zone throughout the day. My skin is also very sensitive and easily becomes red or irritated if I'm too rough or using a harsh product. I get hormonal breakouts, but I've been lucky enough to never have acne. Lately these have been the products that have really been helping my skin, especially in the cold winter months! I hope some of them can help you too :)

I first heard about Mario Badescu products from a YouTuber I love, Jaclyn Hill. She's a gorgeous makeup artist, and you guys should all go check her channel out! Anyway, I decided to try these products because she raved about Mario Badescu.

I bought this cleanser specifically because it says it's for dry and sensitive skin types, and that's my skin in a nutshell. I apply it to my face in the shower when it's dry and massage it in with my hands. Then I gently exfoliate and wipe away the cleanser with a wash cloth. It's really calming on my easily-irritated skin and never leaves my skin feeling stripped and super dry. AND it's only $10!

The first thing I need to say about this face scrub is that it smells AMAZING. No joke, it's pure sweetness in a jar. I can definitely smell the honey in it which I love because honey is very good for the skin. As you might have guessed from the name, it has small almond particles in it to exfoliate the skin gently. What I love about this scrub (besides the smell), is that it is super gentle on my hyper-sensitive skin. It doesn't leave my skin looking red, but it gets off the dead skin!

This mask is simply lovely. There's nothing more I love than a mask that does exactly what it says it will do. This mask is designed to calm red, irritated skin. I use this whenever my skin is feeling particularly irritated and just needs some calming. Hence "calma mask." I just distribute it all over my face for about twenty or so minutes and then wipe it off with warm water. and poof! my skin feels calm, refreshed, and clear.

This cream is under the protective creams category, and I think it does exactly that. As I said, my skin is very dry, and it's been very hard in the past for me to find a moisturizer that would keep my skin hydrated all day. This cream is also targeted to calm redness, so I love it! I use it morning and night.

Ok this post is gettting pretty long so I think I'm going to make separate posts for the eye creams and serums I use! Thank you for reading :)

Around two years ago I was watching a YouTube video by the beautiful MissGlamorazzi, and the video topic happened to be her newest Birchbox. So, of course my beauty-obsessed mind couldn't get over how cool it sounded so I decided that it was imperative I have one too. If you aren't aware of what Birchbox is by now, it's a beauty box subscription that comes packed with all sorts of beauty and lifestyle related samples. Aka, a beauty lover's dream. I've had a subscription to Birchbox for over a year now, and I never regretted it. Every box is adorably packaged and full of lovely samples ranging from skincare, to nail polish, to hair serums!

Needless to say this month's box was just as adroable as all the others. The hot pink packaging alone brightens up my day instantly. Who doesn't love a hot pink package filled with beauty items? Anyway, onto what was inside the box!

I've never been disappointd with any of the nail polish I've gotten from Birchbox, and this one is no exception! It's a great navy blue with a tint of purple (I probably just should have said indigo haha) that personally I think is great for winter. Plus this nail polish isn't exactly what I would call "sample size," considering it's just as big as a regular size Essie polish!

This fragrance is my favorite type of scent: fresh and fruity. On Birchbox's website it describes the scent as a fruity blend of apple, mint, and grapefruit designed to keep us energized. I just love that if I smelled this scent on anyone else, I would think, damn she smells good.

I was so excited when I saw this in my box! I've heard great things about this serum and I have rather dry hair so I'm hoping this really helps it! You're supposed to take a few drops in your palm and apply it to damp or dry hair focusing on the ends. I can't wait to test it out :)

When it comes to eye primers I'm pretty damn obsessed with my Urban Decay Primer Potion, but ironically I recently ran out of the stuff so I mine as well give this one a try! I'm excited to see how it compares to the primer potion and the Mac Paint Pots.

I have an unhealthy obsession with skincare. Seriously, it's a little embarrasing to say but trying new creams and cleansers is my favorite thing in the world! Needless to say I was beyond pumped to see this face cream in my box. Fresh is a really awesome brand (I love their lip balms), so I can't wait to test out this cream and see how it goes over!

Birchbox retails for $10 a month when you get a yearly subscription. Each month you're getting around five or six high end beauty samples from really great brands, so I definitely think it's worth it if you're a beauty-lover like me! Go get a subscription and look forward to an adorable pink box showing up on your door step every month :)

About Me

I'm a 20 year old girl obsessed with all things beauty and skincare related. My dream is to work as a beauty editorial girl, so this is my start :) Hope you guys like my blog as much as I love writing it!